View source for David J. Leland

{{Short description|American judge}}
{{other people|David Leland}}
{{Infobox officeholder
|name         = David J. Leland
|image        = David J. Leland.jpg
|image_size   = 250px
|order1       = Judge, [[Ohio District Courts of Appeals|Ohio 10th District Court of Appeals]]
|term_start1  = February 9, 2023
|order2       = Member of the<br />[[Ohio House of Representatives]]<br />from the 22nd district
|term_start2  = January 3, 2015
|term_end2    = December 31, 2022
|predecessor2 = [[John Patrick Carney]]
|successor2   = [[Juanita Brent]]
|term_start3  = January 3, 1983
|term_end3    = December 31, 1984
|preceded3    = [[Larry Hughes (politician)|Larry Hughes]]
|succeeded3   = [[E. J. Thomas]]
|birth_date   = {{Birth date and age|1953|09|18}}
|birth_place  =
|party        = [[Democratic Party (United States)|Democrat]]
|residence    = Columbus, Ohio
|alma_mater   = {{plainlist|
*[[Ohio State University]]
*[[Capital University Law School]]}}
|profession   = Attorney
|}}
'''David J. Leland''' (born September 18, 1953) is a judge of the [[Ohio District Courts of Appeals|Ohio District Court of Appeals]] for the 10th District ([[Franklin County, Ohio|Franklin County]]), elected in 2022. He was formerly a member of the [[Ohio House of Representatives]] representing the 22nd House district, and a partner at litigation law firm Carpenter Lipps & Leland LLP in [[Columbus, Ohio]]. Leland is the former [[Ohio Democratic Party]] Chair, a position he held from 1995 until 2002. Leland also served as the finance chair and senior advisor to the successful 2006 [[Governor (United States)|gubernatorial]] campaign of [[Ted Strickland]], for which he helped raise a record $17 million.
A candidate for chair of the [[Democratic National Committee]] in 2005, Leland is one of Ohio's best-known lawyers, and has been active in state and national politics for over 50 years.
In November 2014, Leland was elected as [[State legislature (United States)|State Representative]] of the 22nd Ohio House District, having served as representative of roughly the same district in the [[115th Ohio General Assembly]] (1983–1985).
==Early life and education==
Leland spent his early life in Kansas before moving to Columbus  his senior year of high school. He graduated from [[North High School (Columbus, Ohio)|Columbus North High School]] and [[Ohio State University]]<!--Wikipedians do not use "The" as part of Ohio State's name; it is considered a marketing gimmick, and routinely deleted.-->, and then studied at nearby [[Capital University Law School]], where he was a member of the Capital Law Review and earned his [[Juris Doctorate|J.D.]] in 1978.
==Public service and political career==
[[File:David J. Leland, Community.jpg|thumb|left|300px]]
Leland became [[vice chairman]] of the [[Franklin County, Ohio|Franklin County]], [[Ohio]] Democratic Party at the age of 18.<ref name="ArenaProfile">{{cite web|url=http://www.politico.com/arena/bio/david_leland.html |title=The Arena: David Leland Bio |publisher=Politico.com |date=2012-07-15 |access-date=2013-10-03}}</ref>  He was also elected to serve as [[Committeemen and committeewomen|committeeman]] for Franklin County's 19th ward, a position he held for 23 years.
In 1973, at age 20, Leland ran unsuccessfully for election to the [[Columbus, Ohio|Columbus]], [[Ohio]] [[Columbus City Schools|Board of Education]], coming in fourth in a field of nine candidates (including three incumbents) for three open seats. All three incumbents, including later [[Chief Justice]] of the [[Ohio Supreme Court]] [[Thomas J. Moyer]], were reelected.<ref name="OurCamp1">{{cite web|url=http://www.ourcampaigns.com/RaceDetail.html?RaceID=136749 |title=Columbus Board of Education Race - Nov 06, 1973 |publisher=Our Campaigns |access-date=2013-10-03}}</ref>
Elected at the age of 29 to a term as state representative from Columbus (Clintonville) in the 115th Ohio General Assembly (1983–1985), Leland was a major proponent of Ohio's collective bargaining law and was voted the outstanding freshman state representative of that Assembly.  He was elected to the first of his four terms as chair of the [[Ohio Democratic Party]] in 1995 during [[Bill Clinton]]'s tenure as president. A year later, Leland was appointed to the Democratic National Committee's Rules and Bylaws Committee and served on the DNC's executive committee. Leland chaired Ohio's delegation to the [[1996 Democratic National Convention|1996]] and [[2000 Democratic National Convention]]s.<ref name="ArenaProfile" />
<ref name="Blade200206">{{cite news|first=Jim |last=Drew |url=http://www.toledoblade.com/Opinion/2002/06/02/Leland-knows-it-s-about-winning-and-losing.html |title=Editorial: Leland knows it's about winning and losing |work=[[Toledo Blade]] |date=2002-01-06 |access-date=2013-11-01}}</ref>
In 2000, Clinton appointed Leland to the Federal Service Impasses Panel (FSIP) of the [[Federal Labor Relations Authority]].<ref name=FLRA_9_1>{{cite web|title=Bonnie Prouty Castrey appointed as chair of the Federal Service Impasses Panel; David Leland appointed as Member|url=https://www.flra.gov/bulletin_9-1|work=The FLRA Bulletin, Vol. 9 No. 1|publisher=Federal Labor Relations Authority|date=January 31, 2000|access-date=September 21, 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130921075448/https://www.flra.gov/bulletin_9-1|archive-date=September 21, 2013|url-status=dead}}</ref> The FSIP resolves disputes between the government and federal labor unions.<ref>{{cite web|title=The Federal Services Impasses Panel|url=https://www.flra.gov/fsip|publisher=Federal Labor Relations Authority|access-date=September 20, 2013}}</ref>
In 2002, Leland became national director of [[Vote Smart|Project Vote]] a group which registered 2.7 million low-income and minority citizens as voters between 1982 and 2002.<ref name="Blade200206" />
After Leland's terms at both the ODP and DNC concluded in 2002, he [[Democratic National Committee chairmanship election, 2005|launched a bid]] for Democratic National Committee Chair in 2005, with the position going to former Vermont governor and presidential candidate [[Howard Dean]] instead.<ref name="ArenaProfile" />
Leland continued to contribute to state politics, serving as finance chair and senior advisor to [[Ted Strickland]]'s gubernatorial campaign in 2006 and helping to raise a record $17 million as Strickland won both his party's primary and the general election with comfortable margins. Strickland was the first Democrat to be elected governor in Ohio since 1983. Leland also served as the president and CEO of the Strickland/Fisher Inaugural Committee.
==2014 candidacy for Ohio House==
On September 12, 2013, Leland announced his candidacy for state representative of the 22nd district of the Ohio House of Representatives in the 2014 election. The 22nd Ohio House district (after redistricting that became effective with the [[130th Ohio General Assembly|130th Assembly]]) includes much of the district (then OH 28) Leland served in the 115th Ohio General Assembly.
On November 4, 2014, Leland defeated Republican Andrew C. Hall with 16,315 votes to Hall's 10,128, or 62% of the vote.<ref>[http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/files/elections/2014/general/by_county/state_sen_house/OH_State_House.html Ohio State House] {{Dead link|date=September 2024}}</ref>  He was subsequently re-elected in 2016, 2018. He was re-elected in 2020 without opposition
==Private practice==
[[File:David J. Leland, Clippers.jpg|thumb|right|250px|Leland at a [[Columbus Clippers]] game in 2012]]
Until 1996, Leland was counsel to the Columbus law firm of Schwartz, Kelm, Warren and Rubenstein. Prior to that, Leland served as Transportation Director for the [[Public Utilities Commission of Ohio]].  Leland also served as general counsel to the Ohio Civil Service Employees Association (OCSEA/[[AFSCME]] Local 11).<ref name=FLRA_9_1 />
In January 2007, Leland joined the law firm of Carpenter & Lipps, which was renamed in March 2008; Carpenter Lipps & Leland.<ref>[http://carpenterlipps.com/profiles_leland.htm ''Carpenter Lipps & Leland LLP'' Attorney Profile for David Leland]</ref> Leland left the firm in February 2023 to assume his Judicial responsibilities on the Ohio 10th District Court of Appeals
==Personal life==
Leland is active in the Columbus community and has received numerous community service awards and citations.
An avid baseball fan, Leland served on the board of directors of the [[Columbus Clippers]], the Cleveland Guardians’ AAA franchise, from 2005 to 2023. During his tenure the Clippers won two National Championships and constructed a state-of-the-art,  baseball complex named [[Huntington Park (Columbus, Ohio)|Huntington Park]].
Leland has lived in the [[Clintonville, Columbus, Ohio|Clintonville]] neighborhood of north Columbus since 1970.
==References==
{{reflist}}
==External links==
*[https://www.lelandforjudge.com/ Campaign Web site]
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20130302143534/http://www.policyinpractice.org/ ''Policy in Practice'' newsletter]
*{{C-SPAN|42844}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Leland, David J.}}
[[Category:1953 births]]
[[Category:Living people]]
[[Category:People from Kansas]]
[[Category:Ohio lawyers]]
[[Category:Democratic Party members of the Ohio House of Representatives]]
[[Category:21st-century members of the Ohio General Assembly]]
[[Category:Candidates in the 2014 United States elections]]
[[Category:Ohio State University alumni]]
[[Category:Capital University Law School alumni]]
[[Category:State political party chairs of Ohio]]